Reparo
by ElvishNutcase
Summary: Two years after Hermione mysteriously disappeared between her fifth and sixth year, Hermione shows up in the past. There, she will return to her schooling, raise her daughter, and become the apprentice to the most powerful wizard alive.
1. Chapter 1

The stillness of the night was broken by a loud crack as two cloaked figures appeared.

"-Understand why he wants her." the one on the left muttered, as he hurried to catch up with the one on the right.

"She's part of the 'Golden Trio' as they are apt to calling them these days. Why would he not want her captured? She's the brains of the three." The other one answered as he swept along.

"I don't understand why we are not to harm the muggles." The one on the left clarified. He was slightly out of breath from their fast pace.

"I would imagine he has some plan that involves them." the other replied. "If you would walk as much as you talk, we'd be there by now."

The one on the left ignored the insult. "Why not stun them and bring them in if that were the case?" He demanded to know.

"Look Avery. I do not pretend to know what the dark lord wants. If he wanted you to know, he would've told you."

"But Lucius." Avery whined as he hurried to catch up. "You're his right hand man, surely he trusts-"

Lucius interrupted him. "Trust? You think he trusts me?! That man trusts no one. I don't think he even trusts that bloody snake of his."

"Why didn't we apparate in?" Avery asked after a moment's silence.

"I expect Dumbledore probably put a few wards around." Lucius replied exasperated.

"Couldn't we circumvent them?" Avery questioned.

"This is Dumbledore we are talking about!" Lucius snapped. "Not some pathetic excuse for a wizard."

Avery did not reply. They walked side-by-side in silence until they reached the house in question. They stood outside for several minutes, dismantling the wards around the house. They would not have succeeded if the Dark Lord hadn't given them detailed instructions how to get past it. With a final glance they slipped inside.

They crept quietly through the house, and then they got to the stairs.

Hermione woke up, just as soft footsteps started up the stairs. Her wand was in her hand. She wasn't generally such a light sleeper, but something was off at the moment. She silently crept to her bedroom door and slid it open.

Her mind was working furiously trying to figure out what to do. If they were muggles, she could stun them, obliviate them, and send them on their way. If they were wizards, she was in trouble, She drifted into the hall before spotting them. One she could recognize immediately. Wisps of blonde hair gleamed in the darkness. Her wand was up in an instance.

"Leave, now!" She ordered.

The one she didn't recognize laughed at her. "Why on earth would we do that?" He taunted.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Expelliarmus!" She said coolly. His wand flew into her hand, whilst he went tumbling down the stairs. He did not move once he'd landed. She could care less. "Leave, or you'll end up like him."

"I would like to think that a mere mudblood could not throw me down the stairs." Lucius said with a nasty smirk. Hermione could see where Malfoy got it from.

"I'm sure your friend thought that too." Hermione retorted angrily.

Lucius smirked humorlessly. "Stupefy." He said with a casual flick of his wand.

It bounced off her shield. "Expelliarmus." She growled.

"Protego!" He countered. "Crucio!"

Hermione ducked and it hit her wall. "Avis!"

Lucius was pelted by a small flock of birds. After several seconds of getting pecked by them, he spluttered out the counter-spell. "Finite Incantatum!"

His face was a bloody mess, and his robes were ruined. What irritated him the most were the white splatters in his hair. He looked ready to kill her.

"Locomoter Mortis." She cast as soon as the birds had disappeared.

Lucius' legs smacked together. "Crucio!. Stupefy!" He cast the two spells in quick succession so that when she dodged the Cruciatus, she went directly into the path of the Stupefy. Her eyes widened almost comically, as she realized her mistake.

With a flick of his wand, he made the stairway the way it had been before they came. He also made sure that there was no evidence whatsoever that they had ever been here. "Mobilicorpus." He muttered as he trotted down the stairs. He kicked Avery awake on his way out. Hermione's unconscious body floated out behind him.

* * *

Voldemort was pacing what was considered his office. He was situated in a medium-sized house in the countryside. This was his base - for now. At the moment, he was expecting Lucius and Avery to appear at any moment. That mudblood was extremely important, and would be used to bring Potter down a notch or two.

A loud crack sounded through his office as Lucius apparated in. behind him floated the mudblood. Voldemort allowed himself a victory smirk. Now all he had to do was discredit her, and make sure that Potter didn't find her before then.

He finally got a good look at Lucius. The man didn't look too good. Voldemort raised his eyebrows in question.

Lucius looked down embarrassed and muttered. "She set a bloody flock of birds on me."

Voldemort humorlessly chuckled. "Diffendo." He muttered. Her hair was shorn off about an inch from her skull. Without touching it, he placed it in a jar and ordered it sent down to the kitchen. It would be put in the Polyjuice Potion's bubbling merrily.

"Bring her along." Voldemort ordered as he exited the room. He walked down to the basement and opened the door. "Dump her in." He ordered. Lucius complied obediently. Voldemort went about casting anti-magic spells, anti-muggle spells, anti-apparation spells, and a warding spell around the room.

"She's yours Lucius." he remarked. "My only requirement is she must not die."

Lucius bowed slightly. "What would I do with a mudblood?" he asked.

"Torture her. Whatever it is you like to do with prisoners. She must not die."

Lucius nodded. Voldemort turned and swept out of the room.

* * *

Hermione awoke slowly. First she became aware of the smell. It had a slightly musty smell. It made her want to sneeze. She slowly sat up. It was very dark, wherever she was. She stood up and began to slowly walk around, exploring the confines of the room. Tentatively, she stretched out her fingers and walked forward, until they found the wall.

Then she began to walk along it. She tripped when her foot kicked a step. She reversed. and began following the wall in the other direction. Eventually. after what felt like hours. she fond where that wall. and the one beside it met. She continued along in a similar fashion until she found herself back at the steps. She sat down on the bottom step and stared off into the blackness.

Several minutes later. the door opened and closed. "Lumos." she recognized it as Lucius. Again. Hermione did not speak. merely continued to fix him with an unblinking stare. He looked away first. Hermione twitched. but only slightly. as he descended down the stairs.

"Why?" Hermione said coolly. breaking the silence.

"I have my reasons." Lucius replied as he walked around behind her. Hermione twisted back around and continued her unblinking glare at his back. In the light. she realized just how tiny the room was.

"That explains a whole lot." she muttered sarcastically.

"Might I remind you that you are at my mercy?" he asked a touch angrily.

"Your very presence is doing that very well." Hermione retorted.

Lucius chuckled. "I dictate when you eat, when you sleep, when you do anything." he remarked.

Hermione merely stared at him. She didn't outwardly seem to be impressed. but inwardly she was scared shitless.

"Lord Voldemort has decreed that I cannot kill you. but there are many ways of torturing without killing." He smirked evilly. "You would do well to remember that mudblood."

Hermione snorted. "Is that the only insult you can think of?" she retorted.

Lucius regarded her. "That is the only one I need." he replied. I suppose the first thing I shall have to do is teach you your place in the scheme of things."

"Hermione snorted. "Good luck with that." she muttered.

"You'll learn." he remarked. "After all, you'll have to depend upon me to feed you, clothe you, bathe you."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at that last bit. "Like hell you will." she retorted.

"Lucius chuckled mirthlessly. "Count on it."

* * *

"Any news Severus?" Dumbledore asked as the two walked along.

"None Professor." Snape replied. "The dark lord is hiding her very well. if he still has her at all."

"We shall have to tell the others." Dumbledore remarked in a weary voice.

"Doubtlessly." Severus replied. "But should we wait until we have definite news on her?"

"We must tell them soon so they can be on the lookout for her."

Severus nodded. "I must admit. Lucius has been looking happier of late."

"Whatever is making him happy can't be good." Dumbledore muttered. "Pass the word on that there will be a meeting tomorrow at seven. usual place."

Severus nodded and departed immediately.

* * *

Everyone was seated around the kitchen table. Harry and Ron along with the twins and a few other students had been invited to join for this meeting. Everyone was talking about what this could possibly be about. Only Severus, keeping to himself of course, appeared to know anything about the meeting.

Dumbledore swept in at that moment, and the noise immediately died down. "I have very bad news." he said as soon as he had sat down in a chair. Everyone stared at him with expressions varying from worried to expectant. "There was a death eater raid yesterday. Hermione was taken captive."

The room went deathly still for about ¾ of a second before the shouting began.

"What do you mean she's been captured?"

"We have to get her back!"

"Captured? Hermione captured?"

"How?

"Why aren't you rescuing her?"

"What are we going to do?"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore thundered. "We are doing our best, but this is not easy matter. Voldemort suspects a traitor, and is being secretive about her location. It is only a matter of time before someone slips up. Until then, we can do nothing but wait."

"We have to find her!" Harry shouted. "We can't just leave her wherever she is."

"For all we know she may be dead." Snape remarked.

"We have to find her! Now!" Harry shouted again.

"Severus, you are not helping the matter. Everybody, sit down and be quiet." Dumbledore ordered. He waited until the room was quiet again before continuing. "Severus. I want you to find out what you can from the death eaters. Everyone else. keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for the slightest hint of her."

Having said that. Dumbledore walked out, followed by Severus. As soon as they'd left, the room erupted in chatter as everyone discussed this new turn of events.

* * *

Hermione screamed for all she was worth. Tears streamed down from her eyes. Her entire body felt like one giant, nerve ending on fire. She would do anything to stop it, but Lucius showed no signs of let up with the torture.

"Do you see why you must give in?" Lucius asked pleasantly as he traced her stomach with a rather sharp, and already bloody knife.

"You are no better than a muggle." Hermione wheezed, and then gasped in pain as the knife plunged into her thigh. Whimpers escaped her as more tears streamed down her face.

"One of these days you will learn." Lucius replied. "Until then. I shall just have to continue teaching you valuable life lessons."

"I'll never give up!" Hermione gasped out.

Lucius chuckled nastily. "Oh you will. By the end of our time together, you'll have learned your place. Crucio."

Hermione screamed as the spell hit her abused body. It was somewhere around this point that her body decided that it had had about enough and just shut down. Hermione felt relief as she blacked out.

"Dear, dear. We can't have this, now can we?" He cast several healing charms on her and then reawakened her. "Ready to start again?" he asked with a wicked glint in his eyes.

Hermione's face paled as she realized that he had healed her for the sole purpose of torturing her again.

"Now where were we before you so rudely fell asleep? I'll have to punish you for that you know."

Hermione began trembling slightly at this. Lucius just loved the expression on her face. It turned him on. He had a sudden inspiration as to what to do. Hermione backed away from him as he stalked her around the tiny room.

* * *

"We have to do something!" a young man said angrily as the two stared into a crystal.

"It is against the laws." the elder of the two replied sadly. She was not happy about the situation either.

"Screw the laws!" he snarled. "I can not stand her and watch my younger sister getting tortured like this!"

"We can not bring her here." the girl replied quietly. "We can not do anything. It will anger the king."

"And do you think mother will be pleased by this?" he retorted. He watched in horror as Hermione passed out.

"Mother does not know." she replied. "Mother left her in this wretched realm. She cares not about our younger sister."

"Surely she would not approve of this! Not even mother is that heartless!" he replied staring at the crystal. "Oh god! Quick, turn it off!" he said in a shrill voice as he spun away from the ball. The elder of the two only had to glance in to realize what her younger brother was about.

"Come." she murmured as she swept out. "Let us not spy on our poor sister any longer. It does her no good." He followed her out, giving the crystal ball one last glimpse, before softly shutting the door.

* * *

"I have bad news. Dumbledore." Snape remarked as he settled in his chair at yet another Order meeting. It had been three months since the disappearance of Hermione.

"What?" Dumbledore asked wearily. The ongoing search for Hermione, and dealing with the rest of the war was starting to show on his face.

"Snape did not reply, rather he flicked his wand and a glowing orb floated in the air. "This is the wizard equivalent of a camera." he replied as it started to play.

It showed a dark figure trotting up the steps to Hermione's home. Whoever it was. had not trouble getting in. The person darted up the stairs and into a room. The room was dark, but not for long. "Lumos. Crucio."

Mr. Granger shot out of bed screaming. The spell ended and he laid on the floor whimpering and twitching. "Get up." the cold but unmistakable voice of Hermione commanded. Both him and his wife slowly stood.

"Do you have any idea how long I've dreamed of doing this? I've hated you. All my life I've dreamed of doing this. I finally get my chance under the dark lord. I doubt even my 'best friends' would've seen this coming. Your deaths shall be slow and painful."

"Why?" her mother asked fearfully. "We've always supported your transition into the wizarding world. We've always helped you. "Why?"

Hermione laughed a cruel and cold laugh. "You are muggles." Hermione replied nastily. "You're non-magical status has always held me back, prevented me from going where I wanted to go! With your deaths, I shall be an honorary member of the death eaters. Crucio!"

Her mother screamed even louder than her father had. He lunged at Hermione and knocked her to the floor, ending the spell on her mother.

"Petrificus Totalus." Hermione hissed at her father. He fell back with a thud. "You dare touch me?" she snarled. "you shall suffer for that!"

With a flick of her wand, she had him shrieking and begging for mercy. "You shall get no mercy from me." she hissed, glee written all over her face. Eventually she stopped the spell. "I have not entirely given up my muggle ways." she remarked as she reached into her robes. "I find that a very sharp knife is considerably better than any spell in existence.

She approached her mother slowly, who cowered away from her. "You shall watch her suffer and die a slow and painful death, then you shall receive worse. She grinned devilishly before setting to work on Mrs. Granger, Several minutes later, much to her disappointment, her mother expired.

Her father was still lying still, but he was looking sick. Hermione grinned nastily before setting to work on him. Minutes later, she settled back to look at her handiwork. There was something to be said about skinning a person alive. Blood was splattered all over the place, but she really didn't care.

She did not bother cleaning up, but rather left things as they had been. She turned and carefully stepped over the corpse of her father, and departed the house.

Harry looked angry at this tape. "Why?" he muttered feverishly. "Why would she do this to us."

"I fear." Dumbledore said quietly. "That Hermione has gone over to the dark side."

* * *

Hermione stared listlessly at the wall. She did not know it but it had been two full years since she'd been captured. Here, day melted into night, with no sign of its passing.

The door opened and she recognized the figure entering. Who else could it be? No one else seemed to remember her very existence. She did not move an inch, instead allowing him to loom over her.

"Get up mudblood." he growled, kicking her back. Without a sound, Hermione stood up, but continued looking at the floor.

"You've been here for two years." he remarked as he circled around her, like a hawk stalking its prey. Hermione gave a noncommittal shrug. She no longer cared. "Does this not bother you?" he drawled as he caressed her cheek.

Hermione again shrugged. "I remember nothing of the time when I was not here." she intoned emotionlessly. It was true. She no longer could remember small things that she had always taken for granted. She did not remember feeling anything but fear; she remembered nothing about sleeping in an actual bed, or eating actual food, and not the rancid stuff Lucius gave her.

Lucius smirked in satisfaction. "Two years ago." he breathed into her ear. "I told you that I was going to teach you your place in life. You didn't believe me."

Hermione didn't reply. She no longer cared. Two years of almost constant torture had done that to her. Everyone whom she had held dear had abandoned her, all because of a few lies the dark lord had fed them. They believed that she had not been kidnapped, but had willingly joined the dark lord. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

"You are too…docile." Lucius remarked from behind her. "You were much better when you actually put up a fight." Lucius shook his head. "If not for the fact that we still need you alive. I would've killed you ages ago." he remarked as he circled in front of her.

Hermione displayed the fear that she felt. It was the only emotion that she still possessed.

"Pathetic." he muttered. "Still, you have been a great help to our cause. The Dark Lord is most pleased with your cooperation in the matter. Soon, very soon, you may get a chance out of here." He spat in disgust at her lack of emotion to his words. Without a word, he delivered her food that the house elves had prepared, and stormed out.

* * *

"Master?" Lucius asked as he entered the study of the dark lord. "You asked for me?"

"How is the mudblood?" Voldemort asked pleasantly as he watched one of his best death eaters.

"I think she has accepted her station in life." Lucius replied after a pause. "She no longer puts up a fight."

"So much for Gryffindor bravery." Voldemort mused as he sat deep in thought. "I don't believe she would make a useful death eater."

"You don't?" Lucius asked in puzzlement.

"No." Voldemort replied, shaking his head. "I had thought at first to perhaps force her to become one. She is much to weak."

Had Lord Voldemort been looking at Lucius, he would've noted that his right hand had paled slightly at that.

"She's is of no more use to us. Kill her."

Lucius bowed. "It shall be done my lord."

"Take the rest of her hair and her blood." Voldemort ordered.

"May I ask why?" Lucius asked as he paused at the door.

"We wouldn't want to run out of ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion, now would we?" Voldemort replied with an evil smirk. They both knew they were running out of ingredients. The charade would have to end, and soon.

* * *

"We have to do something, or he'll kill her." He muttered as he stared into the seeing globe.

"He's going to kill her?" his elder sister asked as she stepped in.

"Yes, after framing her for over two years. As if they hadn't done enough!" He snarled feverishly.

"Perhaps it would be doing her a favor." His sister murmured sadly.

"NO!" He growled angrily. "I will not allow my sister to die!"

"I'm surprised that the potion's even worked considering her ancestry." she mused as she considered their options. On one hand they could rescue her from her situation and risk expulsion from the court, or they could stand by and let their little sister die. It was not too hard to decide. "Very well." she concluded. "We shall send her elsewhere."

"Where?" he asked as he watched their sister listlessly sitting against a wall.

"Let fate decide." she replied. The two linked hands and let their will slide out to their younger sister and yank her from her current location to another.

* * *

Hermione was sitting there staring off into space when she felt a brush against her conscious. She ignored it, but the brush got more urgent. Then a tingle began in her toes and worked its way up her body. A fog swirled up around her and she felt herself floating.

Time and space held no meaning for Hermione. It felt as if she were sitting on clouds. All around her she could hear voices. Some were calm and steady others were frantic and screaming. Hermione listened to them all and tried to remember what they were saying, but she couldn't understand the language.

After what seemed like eternity. Hermione felt herself become grounded in reality. She opened her eyes and then shielded them as bright lights assaulted them. She pulled herself up to her knees and then stayed there as the room swam before her eyes.

"Where am I?" she wondered as she tried to get her eyes adjusted to light. "And how did I get here?"

* * *

Rowena Ravenclaw was sitting in her study reading. It wasn't often that she got to read. Between grading papers, watching students, and keeping Godric and Salazar from killing each other, she didn't really get much time for herself. She was halfway through the chapter when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Rowena stopped reading immediately and just sat there trying to figure out what was wrong. Her senses hit upon something odd. Something had landed in her Great Hall. Something powerful. Something deadly.

She bookmarked her page and wandered downstairs to investigate. Before she'd even opened the door. She sensed magic. Fae magic. She was immediately on guard. When Fae got involved, something was up.

Sitting in the floor looking around him was a young boy. He didn't look very old at first glance. Fourteen or fifteen. Upon closer inspection however, Rowena realized she was wrong. The boy was not that young. He was just thin and starved looking and more importantly, he was a she. Rowena wondered where Helga was.

* * *

Godric and Salazar were in the kitchen having a drinking contest. Sure it was the middle of the school year and sure there were students around, but it required a lot of ale to get either of them drunk, and they weren't anywhere near that point. All at once, both of them stopped and looked around.

"What on earth?" Salazar muttered as he stood.

"I dunno." Godric replied. "It felt weird whatever it was."

"Of course it did." Salazar snapped. "Do you think I would be standing here if it weren't?"

"Maybe we should go find Rowena." Godric suggested.

"Good idea." Salazar agreed.

The two set off to find their good friend Rowena. She was kneeling beside a girl and talking to her quietly. Upon their entry, Rowena twisted around and glanced at them. "Could one of you go find Helga? I need her for a bit of healing."

"She's probably in the Healer's Wing." Salazar muttered. "I'll go find her." with that he turned and exited the room.

Rowena turned back to the mysterious girl.

Several minutes later, Salazar returned with Helga.

"What have we here?" Helga muttered as she knelt beside the girl. She laid her hand on the girl's head, closed her eyes, and just sat there. A moment later, she stood up. "Let's get her to the hospital wing. She needs it more than you know." she ordered.

Godric picked Hermione up and walked in the direction of the Hospital Wing. The other three founders's trailed behind him.

"So. What's wrong with her?" Rowena asked as they walked.

Helga was silent for a minute before replying. "Malnutrition, broken bones, bones that were poorly mended, cuts, scars, internal bleeding, and the effects of too many Cruciatus Curses." Helga replied

"Cruciatus Curse?" Salazar snorted. "What kind of idiot uses a Crucio?"

"I have no idea." Helga replied. "It's not that horrible of a curse, but it does have nasty side-effects when used too often. On top of all that, the poor girl's pregnant."

They arrived at the Hospital Wing and laid the girl down on one of the beds. "Everybody out." Helga ordered as soon as she was situated.

"Why?" Rowena asked with a frown.

"It's not going to be pleasant here in a minute. I'm going to have to break bones that were healed so I can set them properly among other things." Helga replied. "And I daren't knock her out for this in her condition."

"I shall be in my study should you need me." Salazar said before sweeping out the door. One by one they others left, leaving Hermione in Helga's tender care.

"Feel free to talk." Helga remarked as she bustled around getting supplies.

The only thing tat escaped her lips were screams as her bones for forcibly broken and knitted back together. Hermione slipped into the little corner of her mind and huddled there. It was her safe house from the constant pain. Nothing was hidden or anything, but it dulled her senses a bit, made her life slightly more bearable.

Helga realized pretty quickly what was happening and it made her wander just what this child had been through to have developed that sort of mental capability to retreat to in times of distress. Doing that was no easy feat and it took most wizards years to develop one and then retreat to it in a moment's notice. Yet this slip of a girl was doing it almost as a habit.

She found many more wounds to heal, though most were nowhere near as painful as the bones. Some she would have to ask the child about because they were quite strange and didn't really fit the image of the girl. Helga was trained to recognize mudbloods on sight, and this girl certainly wasn't that, so why she had it carved around her middle was a mystery to the kindly witch.

An hour later, she informed the girl, whoever she was, that she could go to sleep now, and that her child was fine before departing.

"How is she?" Godric asked as soon as she'd walked out.

"Better." Helga answered. "Yet I fear there are some wounds that only time can heal."

Godric was silent for a moment. "How bad was it?" He asked quietly as the two walked side-by-side.

"Bad." Helga said shortly. "Most of them I was able to heal, but her mind I cannot. Whatever it was that the poor child went through, it did severe damage on her mind. She'll have scarring, I suppose."

"Couldn't you get rid of that?" Godric had seen some of the wounds and scars on her face and arms, he figured the rest of her body was as bad if not worse.

"Oh yes, but I'll be getting her permission before that happens, and if her mind never heals than she'll bear them for the rest of her life." Helga murmured sadly. "I do hope her mind recovers. "T'would be a pity for such a mind to go to waste."

**I know it's longer than my usual work, but it's what leads up to Hermione's stay in the past. Just in case you missed the pairing it's a Salazar/Hermione pairing. Feel free to review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, I'm going to include a bit of a time line here. It's about late August. Luciel is about 5 months old so I'm going to make her birthday April 3 which would put her arriving at Hogwarts around the first of September. Yes, I know I'm cutting it a bit close here, but it can't be helped. This one is intertwined with Colors of Magic by yours truly, it just isn't obvious yet though it will be.**

Hermione blinked rapidly for several seconds, she couldn't see anything so she wasn't sure if she was blind or if this was some other torture. She started to sit up and a headache came crashing down on her. She sat up much slower the second time and stared around her. All she could see was darkness. Fear clawed its way to the forefront. When she'd first been taken captive, she'd managed to control it. Now it controlled her. She carefully slid her feet out of what she vaguely remembered as a bed and they met cold stone. She shivered slightly as she stood up.

Hermione had long since lost her wand and found herself wanting it desperately. She put her weight on her legs and stumbled as they refused to hold her weight. She gave up trying to walk and opted for crawling. Yes, that was something she'd done before. Loads of times in fact. After a few seconds, the hair n the back of her neck stood on end. She had lived in the darkened room for what ages, and knew how big it was. She should've run into a wall by now.

With this realization the fear began its attack anew. What new torture did they have planned for her? It terrified her to no ends. Abruptly, she heard voices. Hermione thought desperately of a way to escape, hide, anything but sit here and await her fate at the cruel hands of her tormentor. She crawled desperately away from the source of the noise. A crack of light behind her made her scramble faster and gave her a quick view of the area in front of her. With a last ounce of strength in her failing limbs, she threw herself under the desk that she'd spotted.

Light flared up around her and she shielded her eyes. A dark-headed man and a blonde woman were walking side by side down a spiraling set of stairs. The woman paused midway down. "Where is she?"

Hermione heard her ask and shrank as far under the desk as she could get, while warily looking around her. She appeared to be in a fairly spacious bedroom. Had this been two years ago, she would've examined the bookcases. The Hermione of today would rather not be found, reading or otherwise.

"She's awake. Excellent." The man standing beside her remarked as he continued the journey down the steps. Hermione bit back a whimper of terror at his words. "Child, where are you?" His voice sounded was calm and reassuring. Hermione wasn't falling for that, not again.

The woman carefully looked around the room. She saw a flicker of movement in the shadow under the writing table. "Child." She called in a gentle voice. "Please come out. We mean you no harm."

The man glanced where the woman had been looking and saw the girl's wide-terrified eyes. "She's terrified of us." He murmured softly to the woman.

"I gathered." She dryly intoned. She walked slowly forward, like she was approaching a wild animal.

Hermione tried to go through the desk; she was trying to get away so fast. She didn't care who they said they were, she was not going back into their waiting arms. She had had it up to here with their torture. She watched I terror as the woman approached and scrambled away, or at least she tried to.

The chair was moved out of the way and the woman knelt down in front of the cubby. "Please come out." She pleaded. "We want to help you, little one."

Hermione stilled suddenly as she stared at the man. Now that she'd gotten a good look at the two of them, she wasn't so sure they were death eaters. The woman looked much too kindly, and the man had an aura that even she could sense. She would have described it as being similar to Lord Voldemort's only this man's was much more powerful that. Hermione shivered slightly at that.

"Come out dear, you've spent entirely too much time down here." Helga held out her hand and looked at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione hesitantly took it and was pulled out of her cubby. She flinched slightly, fully expecting the two to laugh at her and tell her it was all an elaborately cruel prank. They did no such thing. She was led up the stairs by the woman and was unable to stop her gasp as she exited.

Hermione recognized the room as the great hall, but it was much larger and much more elaborately decorated.

"Welcome to Hogwarts dear." The woman said matter-of-factly. "Come along. You need food." A bowl of soup was soon shoved in front of her. Hermione took a cautious sip and found it to be quite delicious. Before long she'd devoured the entire bowl.

As she was finishing up, another man and a woman entered. The woman had a five-month-old baby perched on her hip.

Helga smiled as she stared fondly at the child. "I'm Helga." She introduced herself. "That's Salazar, his sister Rowena, and their friend Godric."

Hermione paused in the act of putting her spoon down. She scrutinized the four of them and realized that it was quite plausible. She continued studying them until she got to Rowena. Her eyes wee inexplicably drawn to the child that rested on her hip, gurgling happily. "Is she?" She tried to ask, but it never made it out. Swallowing, Hermione tried again. "Is she yours?"

Rowena met her eyes and seemed to understand what she was trying to ask. She shook her head slightly. She approached Hermione. "I am Rowena, as Helga said I am." She settled into the seat on the other side of Hermione. "Child, you have been in our care for over a year. You arrived mid-summer of last year. You were two months pregnant."

Hermione's eyes widened as realization hit. She gestured at the child.

Rowena handed the child carefully to Hermione. "She's a girl." She explained. "We have been calling her Luciel, but you may rename her if you wish." Rowena watched mother bond with daughter. She'd been slightly worried that Hermione wouldn't want anything to do with the child that had obviously been conceived through less than honorable means.

"Luciel." Hermione croaked softly. "My Luciel."

Rowena smiled with relief and settled down to eat breakfast.

"I worry that she my not be able to care for her adequately." Rowena murmured to Helga as she took her seat beside the plumper witch.

"I know what you mean." Helga replied, "I do not think her body could spare the extra nutrients that Luciel needs." She stood, walked to the other end of the table and sat next to Hermione who was lovingly holding her daughter. "Child," She said gently as she tapped her on the shoulder.

Hermione flinched at her touch but otherwise did not react save to turn to look at her.

"We have hired a wet nurse for Luciel. I think you should continue feeding her in that manner. You need all the food you can get and I do not believe you can give Luciel what she needs." She tried to break this as gently as possible, fearing the girl's reaction. She surprised her yet again by nodding her agreement.

With that settled, Helga continued her meal in silence. After breakfast, she led the younger girl up to her suite. "I think I shall put you in this room, next to mine for the time being, just in case." Hermione said nothing, but looked slightly worried as Luciel started to cry rather loudly.

Helga took charge of the situation and showed Hermione how to remove the cloth and put a fresh, unsoiled one on in its place. The soiled one was cleaned, folded, and neatly stored with a dozen or so of others. After that, little Luciel giggled contentedly and settled in for a long nap.

Days turned into weeks for the five living alone in the large castle. Hermione found that she could still speak, but not at the rate she use to. Gradually she began to put on weight and her daughter was gradually weaned from the wet nurse back to Hermione. And then Hogwarts opened her doors to students.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to." Rowena told her firmly at breakfast the day before Hogwarts was to open for students. "No one would blame you, Hermione if you chose not to. You have a lot to deal with, and heaping more might not be a good idea."

Hermione debated a bit before making a compromise. "I'll take the first half off. I will continue the half."

Rowena nodded her assent. Besides, they had already determined that as long as she was in this time period, she would live in Hogwarts. Nobody knew how long her stay here would be. Hermione was still not comfortable being in any room alone with either Godric or Salazar, so she usually spent her time by herself with only Luciel for company or in the company of one of the other witches.

They also had not pushed her overly much about her past, or in this case future. As Helga said, she would need time to come to terms with what happened to her before she could come to terms with anybody else. For now, they would have to suffer not knowing.

The morning of the first day of school dawned bright and early with her being roused by the cries of her daughter. The wet nurse, a middle-aged slightly portly woman with graying hair, took care of the problem. Hermione dutifully took care of the rest of the problems such as soothing her daughter and changing her cloth.

She went downstairs to find that there was a hustle and bustle of people. She started to back out of the room.

"Relax Hermione." The emotionless voice of Salazar came from behind her. "They are locals hired to come and clean the castle. They will not harm you in any way."

Still holding her daughter, she turned around to face him. "Sorry," She mumbled, cheeks red with embarrassment.

He rolled his eyes before sweeping past her. "There is nothing to apologize for, m'dear. I do understand your fear."

Hermione blinked at him for a moment. She suddenly found herself wondering what exactly she was supposed to do while these people cleaned. "Come along." Salazar directed. She stayed a good three feet away from him, as they walked, not that he blamed her. She was doubtlessly still suffering from her ordeal wherever it was she'd come from.

"Ah, there you are Hermione." Rowena caught up with them. "And where are we going?" She asked pleasantly. She had caught the undercurrent of unease coming from Hermione as the two had passed by her.

"The library." Salazar answered shortly. "Our young friend seems to have taken a liking to it."

Hermione blushed slightly. How could she tell them that most of the library was inaccessible to her in her own time period?

"Salazar, once you have escorted her to the library, I think Godric was looking for you. He mentioned the staircase seems to not be working right." Rowena commented to Salazar.

"What's wrong with it?" Hermione asked curiously as she shifted Luciel from one arm to another. Her daughter was currently amusing herself by sucking on Hermione's hair.

It keeps sticking to the North wall," Rowena dryly answered, "making passage beyond the third floor nigh impossible."

"That could be a problem." Salazar mused. He changed direction and headed back to the Main Hall.

Rowena shrugged apologetically. "I thought you might like feminine companionship since men still make you uncomfortable."

Hermione blushed again from the older witch's correct observation. "I'm trying to not do that." She mumbled incoherently.

Rowena seemed to hear what she'd mumbled. "Go at your own pace, Hermione." She said gently. "We're not pushing you beyond what's necessary." Hermione nodded gratefully as she turned into the library. She soon found herself immersed in books after reading her daughter to sleep using a book on the properties of dragons.


	3. Chapter 3

Jareth entered Albus' study without a sound. He settled in a seat to wait until the old man realized he was waiting. He only hoped it was not long for he had much to do. At last, Albus looked up and noticed him.

"Ahh, Jareth. To what do I owe this pleasure." Albus asked pleasantly as he set the parchment he'd been reading.

"It's hardly a pleasure." Jareth answered calmly. "It's about Hermione."

Albus' face darkened at the thought of her. "Why would you wish to talk about that traitor?" He asked.

"With all due respect sir, she's not a traitor." Jareth retorted as he stood and started to pace.

"And what proof do you have of this?" Albus asked peering through his half-moon glasses. "I think, Jareth, that I know more about her than you do. I have been watching her and she does have some rather dark tendencies." He plowed on before Jareth could get a word in edgewise.

"None that I can show you." Jareth replied without breaking gait in his pacing. "I know she does. She is human, after all." He conveniently did not point out to the older man that she was only half human. That would only stir up trouble and questions that he wasn't ready to answer yet.

"Then why waste my time giving an opinion?" Albus asked with an eyebrow raised. "And yes, I am quite well aware of that. Unlike her friends Misters Ron and Harry, she has gotten away with few noticing what she's up to."

"It is not an opinion." Jareth abruptly sat down and buried his face in his hands. "I just can't show you the evidence."

"Than there is none." Albus watched the younger man with something akin to pity in his eyes. "I know she was a favored student of yours, but you must accept facts. Hermione is a death eater. Take it from someone older and wiser than you."

Jareth mumbled something far to low for Albus to pick up. "Could you repeat that?" He asked with a slight frown.

"Nothing, sir." Jareth answered as he stood to leave. This visit hadn't been so much to debate the older man, but to warn him. Things were starting now that could not be undone.

"Think on it, Jareth. In time you will come to see the truth." Albus called as the younger man walked out the door.

"I doubt it." Jareth muttered darkly as he leaned against the wall for support. He hadn't been lying to Albus. He knew for a fact that Hermione had not joined the death eaters. He knew where she was right this minute. He hadn't been trying to mount a rescue. "Ahh, Luciel." He murmured as he thought about his niece. "You will shock the wizarding world when you return to this time period." He decided then and there to go visit his sister and niece. It had been awhile after all.

Hermione was seated between Rowena and Helga as students filed in. They were seated more or less randomly. Some remained standing, looking around nervously, others merely looked bored. After about half an hour had passed, and the stream of students had filtered down to a trickle, she noticed Godric standing up.

"Attention!" he called loudly to the students. "If you are new here, you may be seated in either of the four tables. If you have returned as a fourth year, please line up along the wall to be sorted."

Hermione started in bewilderment. "Why are the fourth years being sorted but not the first years?" She whispered to Rowena as she held her daughter lovingly.

"Is that how things are done where you come from?" Rowena asked with a frown. "That's terribly unpractical. What if a student changes his or her career choice?"

"We're sorted based on personality." Hermione answered. "What does career have to do with anything?"

"Ahh, explains it. Still not very practical though." Rowena mused more to herself than Hermione. "What if you get a change of personality midway through your schooling?"

Hermione frowned in thought. "I don't know." She said finally. "That had never occurred to me."

"First through third year is mandatory here. After that, if a student wishes to return he or she must decide what they wish to study. Students choosing Salazar generally become Dark Wizards, which are useful in their own right, bloody good at interrogating that's for sure. My students become researchers, Godric's students become wizarding knights, and Helga's students are where most women go. She teaches them healing spells, household spells, herbs, things like that. She and Godric get most of them. Salazar and I are very particular about ours."

"That makes sense, actually." Hermione mused as she watched students perform magic for Godric and as he sent them to their respective tables.

An hour later Godric settled down in his seat and announced dinner was served. "I've got sixty-seven. Rowena, you have twelve, Salazar's got fifteen, and Helga you've got your hands full with eighty-three." Hermione gaped in astonishment.

"What's the matter dear?" Helga asked upon noticing her expression.

"There aren't nearly that many students in my year. We get on average about fifty new students every year." Hermione finally choked out.

Helga frowned. "We have on average four hundred new students every year." She said quietly. "Only a fourth generally return after their mandatory years. Please describe your classmates."

Hermione launched into an explanation describing nearly everything about Hogwarts in her time. Soon, she had all four founders listening in on her.

"What do you mean my students despise muggle-borns?" Salazar yelped upon hearing about his house's viewpoint. "What kind of morons inhabit my house that are stupid enough to do something like that?"

"Calm down, Salazar." Helga said soothingly, "knowledge has apparently been lost with time."

"I'm almost tempted to go forward and reteach this lost knowledge. Honestly, any idiot knows that you do not piss off a muggle-born and certainly not a mudblood!" Salazar fumed as he stabbed the roast venison he was supposed to be eating.

"What's the difference?" Hermione asked as she bit off a small chunk.

"Muggle-borns are either the result of a union between a Fae and a mortal, or someone who has had dealings with Fae." Helga answered pleasantly. "Because of their half-blooded status, they cannot be kept in the NeverNever so they are sent into the mortal realm to live comfortably there. Most are very particular where they put their children. Should a half-blood find out about their parentage, they can choose to reside in the NeverNever. Mudblood is a pet name for Earth Elementals. It is believed that instead of having normal blood like mortals, they have mud for blood, thus the name. They are also Fae, but they generally prefer living in this realm." She shot a look at Salazar as she spoke about the mudbloods.

"You, child, are not a mudblood." Rowena said.

"There is so much for me to learn." Hermione breathed.

"If it is all right with you, I should like to have her tested to see how powerful she is and where her capabilities lie. I sincerely doubt you will be getting this one Helga. I would say either Godric or I will get her because she seems like the fighting sort." Salazar said thoughtfully as he examined her.

"What makes you say that?" Rowena asked. "She seems pretty intelligent to me."

"Yes." Salazar agreed. "But an normal intelligent person would likely have not recovered from the mental damage she had. A normal intelligent person has little to no knowledge how to actually survive. She is a fighter, but she is also quite intelligent."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked as she looked at him. She was perfectly comfortable talking to him when she wasn't alone with him.

His smirked at her. "A normal person would not be smart enough to put copies of her memories out and hide the originals." He stood and walked out of the Great Hall leaving Hermione to wonder how he'd known about that.

"Don't worry about him too much dear." Helga assured her. "He was trained by Merlin himself at mind-reading. He knows all the tricks in the book."

Hermione blinked at that, "Merlin's alive during this time period?" She asked quizzically.

"Fraid not." Godric answered as he ate a roll. "He died nearly a century ago."

"How old is Salazar?" Hermione exclaimed in surprise.

"486, unless I'm mistaken." Rowena answered calmly. "Salazar is excessively long-lived, and will likely keep living long after the rest of us have died."

"Oh." Hermione murmured quietly. At that moment, Luciel chose to start bawling. Hermione handed her off to the wet-nurse reluctantly.

The semester passed quickly, and soon Hermione had grown well enough to breast feed her daughter, though she was assured that soon they could start feeding the child real food. Helga had taken her aside and told her quite seriously that Hermione needed to breast-feed her daughter due to the innate magic in her milk.

For her first semester as a student she discovered that in some areas she was well-ahead of her peers, while some others she was hopelessly behind. Thus it was decided that instead of attending classes, she would be tutored by Rowena. This suited Hermione perfectly fine because crying children were rather disruptive in class.

"Hello Hermione." Salazar said pleasantly to gain the young mother's attention. She jumped slightly, but she getting quite better at being alone with men. It certainly helped that Salazar had not so much as glared at her since she'd started getting lessons from him.

"How goes your studies?" He asked as he settled down beside her. Luciel immediately climbed into his lap and cuddled.

"They'd go much better if I didn't have to watch her constantly." Hermione groused while sending her daughter a loving glance.

"I could watch her for awhile. I wouldn't mind." Salazar suggested as he watched her take down a note from the text before flipping back to verify some other note she'd made. Honestly, she was the only person he knew besides himself that didn't fawn all over Ricovich's work. In fact she'd gone as far as to disprove nearly all of his statements.

Hermione worked in silence while Luciel slept on Salazar. Finally, after Hermione had finished taking notes and had closed the book, Salazar decided to bring up the subject he'd come in here to discuss after all.

"Have you made a decision which of us you're going to study under next year?" He asked as he shifted Luciel slightly to get his numb arm out from under her.

"Either you or Rowena." Hermione replied, staring nervously up at him. "Why?"

"We have decided that whoever you choose to study under is to ask you if you wish to be an apprentice in order to gain a Mastership." Salazar replied. "We've agreed that it will probably be either Rowena or I as well. She will be coming along in a day or so to ask what I am about to ask you. You need not make a decision now, but you will need to before next semester starts up." He paused to collect his thoughts. "Will you be my apprentice?"

Hermione opened and closed her mouth before snapping it shut. "I want to think about it a bit before giving you a reply." She finally answered. "What does it entail?"

"Apprenticeship under me will not be easy." Salazar paused again, unsure whether he should tell her, but decided to anyway. "My apprentices have a history of dying." She looked startled, but didn't immediately declare no so he kept going. "My apprentice's learn more about the Dark Arts than my normal students studying under me. While being my apprentice you would not be permitted to be in a relationship, beyond what you've already got." He shifted Luciel again, but she did not wake up. "You would learn how to perform the Dark Arts. Standard apprenticeship is seven years. If you survive, you will become a Journeyman after proving you are worthy before the council. Once they deem you ready you will become a Master. During your two years as a Journeyman, you will likely be fighting in the Scottish-English war."

Hermione objected immediately. "That war doesn't start for another couple of centuries."

"For the muggles perhaps. We wizards have been fighting for the last century." Salazar paused thoughtfully at the tidbit she'd accidentally said. "So they do eventually get involved. Did the Scots win?"

"They didn't gained their independence until the sixteenth century." Hermione replied. "So I guess in a way they did."

"Good." Salazar looked pleased. "I'd hate for those English bastards to win."

Hermione looked shocked for a moment before replying. "Excuse me, I'm English."

"Are you trying to obliterate the Scots?" Salazar asked sharply.

Hermione shook her head hastily. "No."

"Then you are not an English bastard. I did not mean to insult your heritage." He said quietly.

"That's okay. I can understand your point. Back to what we were discussing, how do your apprentices die?" Hermione asked quizzically and slightly worried.

"They have a tendency of falling to the Dark Arts. If one is not careful one goes from controlling the Arts to being controlled by the Arts. They generally have to be killed before they do too much damage."

Hermione looked relieved by that, but worried at the same time. "How can you tell if they've been consumed?" She asked curiously.

"Oh the sign are fairly easy to spot." Salazar stared thoughtfully off into space. "They generally lose all regard to human life in general, and if they get in deep enough, it starts to affect their magic as well as their physical appearance." He glanced at her and was startled to see a knowing look on her face. "You know one, don't you?" He felt a curious sense of dread. Fallen wizards were notoriously difficult to kill.

Hermione nodded silently. "He's trying to take over Great Britain as well as murder one of my friends." She said softly. "He claims to be a descendant of yours."

Salazar snorted in amusement. "A very far descendant, unless I miss my guess. Can he control wild beasts?"

Hermione shook her head in puzzlement.

"If he were a direct descendant of mine he would be able to. I am, after all, a mudblood."

* * *

Yes. It's me again. I'm not bothering with excuses as to why I haven't updated. Thank you to all of you who have persevered. You can stop waving the pitchforks now.


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